


Lonely Night

by zippuzzle



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Cute, Gen, Platonic Cuddling, Short, Xen Mahariel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 12:03:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7714204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zippuzzle/pseuds/zippuzzle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keeping watch one night at the edge of the Kokari Wilds, Mahariel discovers that he does have someone he feels comfortable talking to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lonely Night

**Lonely Night  
**

In the daylight there was work to be done. There was ground to cover, many plans to go over, and occasionally bandits to deal with on the road. In the evening making camp occupied his mind. They still didn't have much in the way of supplies, though they had acquired enough coin off the last group of bandits to buy supplies if they should ever actually make it to Lothering. It seemed likely that they would, after the darkspawn at Ostigar, after battling that giant monster to light the beacon, dispatching a few shem bandits was nothing. But when camp was made and his bickering companions had ceased exchanging barbs to sleep, then there was nothing left to distract him.

Mahariel paced restlessly around the edge of the clearing they'd made camp in, his blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Morrigan slept far away from the fire pit they'd dug, her shape changed to something with warm fur to stave off the chill of the night. Alistair was a heap on the opposite side of the fire from where Morrigan had gone off to sleep. Mahariel noticed him shiver when he came back to put another branch on the fire, muttering something unintelligible in his sleep. The elf stooped to drape his blanket over the other warden with a whispered “You're dreaming.” Mahariel caught himself smiling when Alistair quieted and turned on his heel to stalk back to the outskirts of their clearing. He didn't need any shems thinking he was soft and cuddly, even if he might've felt sorry for one of them. A little. Alistair had just lost everyone. He was just as alone as Mahariel. At least Mahariel's clan wasn't dead, or hadn't been when he left. At least Alistair's 'clan' hadn't ordered him away. Small mercies that weren't merciful at all, and made the chilly night just beyond the Korcari Wilds seem endless.

He rubbed his arms, regretting the loss of his blanket but glad to be thinking of the cold and not of-

_Mirrors that lead to darkness. The soft song that whispered behind his thoughts._

Mahariel shuddered, and muttered angrily about the cold weather as he came back to the fire pit. The flames gobbled the branch he'd fed them, glowing orange and golden before leaving black wood and pale ash in the wake of their appetite. He listened to the crackle-pop of the flames, the soft snores coming from Alistair's pile of blankets, the gentle hiss of wind in the stunted trees, and the small noises of night creatures beyond the twisting shadows cast by their fire. 

Movement startled him to his feet, his hand closing around the short sword at his hip before he recognized the animal as the mabari hound that had followed them from Ostagar and warned them off the darkspawn attack only that morning. “Don't sneak up on me,” he warned it as he sat back down beside the fire. His back was cold, the wind sucked the heat from his skin and the fire was far from large enough to stave off the chill. The dog trotted around the clearing much as Mahariel had, and the elf snorted to see the hound sniffing at both of their sleeping companions as though it were checking on them. “My clan has a story about a dog like you,” he told it idly as the mabari came to sit beside him. It looked up at him expectantly and it radiated warmth almost as effectively as the fire.

“Long ago a clan lived on the Silent Plains, where the sun never shone. Their Keeper had a hound, not a mabari.” The dog whined and Mahariel ruffled its stubby ears. “Dalish don't usually have mabari, shems do. The Keeper had a coursing hound. They hunted together when they were young, ran down deer and wolves and the like, and when they grew old they still dreamed of hunts, dozing together by the fire. Until the Dread Wolf came, for the Keeper was wise and kind and Fen'harel is full of hate. He tried to enter the Keeper's mind while he slept and twist it, but the hound was loyal even in dreams. He caught Fen'harel's scent and chased the Dread Wolf across the Fade. He grabbed Fen'harel by the tail and the wolf howled so even the Veil shook but the hound would not let go. Fen'harel was forced to bite off his own tail to escape and ever since then he thinks twice about playing his tricks when dogs are on guard.”

The dog barked, its nubby tail wagging. “Liked that did you?” Mahariel asked, mostly because talking covered up the other thoughts. “I guess if you're sticking around you should have a name. I don't know what your old partner called you,” he admitted, rubbing his hands together to warm them. “Do you like Fen'din?” The dog canted its head, its eyes glittering in the firelight. “Din is the word we Dalish use for death, it means... um, something like being unmade. So Fen'din, wolf death.” The dog barked again and Mahariel chuckled and scratched its ears. The short fur was far warmer than his bare fingers. “Going to guard me in the Fade then?” he asked, “Chase the nightmares away?”

The dreams had only started with the mirror. Alistair said all Grey Wardens had nightmares. Mahariel's sleeping habits had deteriorated into staying awake as long as possible. Besides, someone had to keep watch while they were on the road. And it was too cold to risk sleeping without a blanket, he'd heard too many cautionary tales about hunters who took a nap in the snow and never woke up. It might not be that cold yet, but why risk it.

The dog, Fen'din, wiggled and nudged his large head against Mahariel's ribs. “If you're set on that, maybe you can help Alistair out-” Mahariel started to stand but the dog's nudge got harder and he stumbled and sat down again much more quickly than he would have liked. “Dog...” he growled warningly. The mabari ignored his glare and scooted to curl up at his back, the canine large enough to wrap around Mahariel's narrow stature and put his chin on the elf's left thigh while thwacking his tail happily against Mahariel's right hip.

“I know you think you're helping...” The dog was so warm after the cold claws of the wind, it was hard to want to get up. “...but even one of the shem's precious mabari can't chase bad dreams away. So- Fenedhis!” Mahariel squawked, much more loudly than he'd meant to, when the dog lifted its head to lick his face. “Venavis, Creators, stop it!” The dog's tiny tail beat against his hip as Mahariel wiped the drool with the edge of his shirt.

He'd had a dog when he was little. A splotchy coated hound named Assan. He hadn't thought the story was just a story when he was small, and Assan had shared his blanket every night until the morning when, gray furred and stiff, she didn't wake. She had been a lot smaller and pointer than the mabari, but Mahariel hadn't been able to walk away from the sick dog. Now that the mabari was well, it seemed like he still couldn't.

“You're very pushy,” Mahariel grumbled, shifting so he could lean back more comfortably against the dog's muscular flank. He curled up, the fire warm against his shins and the dog warm against his shoulders. “Fine. I'll sit for a little while...” he muttered. “You'd better warn me if you hear anything, since you're keeping me from keeping proper watch,” he added, trying to sound cross. It was harder than he thought it would be, but maybe the dog wouldn't tell on him for being a little bit soft.

He didn't remember closing his eyes, but the next thing Mahariel knew he was getting slobbery good morning kisses.

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a [prompt fill](http://dragonage-kink.livejournal.com/11571.html?thread=50570547#t50570547) (linked site contains NSFW). The story is paraphrased from Merrill's story to the Dog in DA:II


End file.
